I got to work on an Aliens RPG for SEGA from 2006-2009. Obsidian didn't have directors at that time, just leads who were all considered peers. It resulted in a lot of dysfunction when the leads didn't agree on how to do something. https://t.co/Zz6jRqYkD7 pic.twitter.com/JoxW5V3424
— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) April 16, 2023
There were a lot of cool ideas in the works, but you don't ship ideas! The biggest lesson I learned from the experience is that if you don't have playable levels, you don't have much of a game (there are some exceptions, of course).
— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) April 16, 2023
It's pretty rare. In my experience, it's only happened once: revisiting Van Buren/Black Isle Fallout 3 ideas for Fallout: New Vegas.
— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) April 16, 2023
Even then it was more like taking ideas and using them as seeds than getting another chance to actually make the game as originally conceived. https://t.co/GsDCcUp6Wi
On earlier Obsidian/Black Isle games, I think the potential for dysfunction was ameliorated by smaller teams and established tech pipelines.
— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) April 16, 2023
"Vibes-based authority" worked on Icewind Dale -- we didn't even have leads! -- but that used Baldur's Gate tech on a ~25 person team.
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